[Vita Review] Velocity Ultra

Velocity® Ultra is the native PlayStation®Vita system version of the multiple award-winning teleportation shoot ‘em-up Velocity®!

Featuring a new anime-influenced art style, touch screen to teleport, bombs on right stick, explosive visual effects, a Platinum trophy and PlayStation® Trophy Leaderboards, Velocity® Ultra improves on the 2012 Game Of The Year and PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards release in every area (except music ‘cos that rocked the first time around).

Velocity®Ultra – PS Vita Features Trailer

Velocity Ultra is the new arcade game from FuturLab Limited. This game is an enhanced remake of Velocity, which has been out for a while on the PlayStation 3.

In Velocity Ultra, you are in control of a Quarp Jet (a space ship that can teleport) and your goal is to save survivors through the different levels. Other than survivors, the levels also contains Zetachrons (space monsters), and as the game progresses you’ll need to rely on logic to solve some very light puzzles.

The strength of Velocity Ultra is clearly its level design. I was completely charmed by how much thought went into each one of them. In order to finish a level, you’ll often need to teleport to a different region in the map, and your ship boosters to reach the end with the best time possible.

Each of the fifty levels in this game has three objectives: number of survivors saved, score obtained and the hardest of all: a time objective. The levels can be redone as many times as you want, and the different objectives can be obtained in different runs through the level. If you manage to get all three objectives in the same run through a level (!) AND you don’t die once (!!), you’ll ace the level and get a Perfect (!!!). Hopefully, the game does not require every objective to be attained in order to advance through the levels, so it’s possible to progress without replaying the same level twice.

The score objective can be attained by killing the Zetachrons, by either shooting straight up (pressing X) or by shooting bombs with the right analog stick. I’m not sure if it’s my PS Vita that lacked precision, but very often in intense action moments, my bombs didn’t go the way I wanted them to go, resulting in my ship being hit by enemies I think I would’ve hit easily. Or maybe I was just not good?

This game also features online leaderboards and 51 trophies (including a Platinum!). A few trophies will unlock automatically in the first hours of play, but obtaining the Platinum for this game requires getting a Perfect in every level which can prove to be very hard especially in the second half of the game when time objectives becomes harder to reach.

Visually, Velocity Ultra is stunning: the levels are gorgeous, and runs at a solid 60 fps, even when the action goes very fast. The soundtrack is also very catchy and fits with the game very well.

Final Thoughts I enjoyed, and am still enjoying my time in Velocity Ultra. It’s a really good fast-paced arcade game that can be played in short gaming sessions. The gameplay is smooth, challenging, and the game even includes a Platinum trophy (which I won’t be aiming for!). For people with limited cartridge sizes, you’ll be happy to know that the game weighs only 220mb.

Review

Pros

Cons

Level designInclusion of leaderboards and trophiesGreat visuals, and runs at 60fps

Bomb aiming precision?

Rating

88%

Cost: $7.99
PS Vita Game size: 220mb
You can purchase Velocity Ultra from the PSN.